PESHAWAR, June 5: An accountability appellate bench of the Peshawar High Court on Wednesday set aside the conviction handed over by an accountability court in absentia of former MNA of Awami National Party Haji Naseemur Rehman and remanded his case back to the trial court.

The bench, comprising Justice Shehzad Akber Khan and Justice Ijazul Hassan, observed that the trial court had not fulfilled legal requirements while convicting the appellant.

The appellant was sentenced to a three-year-long rigorous imprisonment term under Section 31-A of the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance, 1999, under which a person evading arrest could be sentenced by an accountability court.

Haji Naseemur Rehman had been absconding since his warrant of arrest was issued by the chairman Nab on Oct 27, 2000. He was required in a case pertaining to possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.

Earlier, his appeal against the conviction was dismissed by the high court on June 19, 2001, as at that time he had not surrendered to the court.

Recently, he surrendered before the Supreme Court, which granted him bail and directed the high court to decide his appeal on merit as he had surrendered before the court.

Five of his relatives, including his father, has already been acquitted by the court in the same case.

Advocate Yahya Afridi appeared for the appellant and argued that an accused could not be sentenced in absentia.

He argued that trial of an absconding accused under Section 31-A could only be conducted once the accused had either been arrested or surrendered before the court.